Freight-car ladder.



'D. R. MAOBAIN.

FREIGHT GAR LADDER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22, 1911.

' Patented May 2?, 193.3.

V E "To R I J J diva 29%? 11. R. MA BAIN. FREIGHT CAR LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22,1911.

Patented May 27, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Q Hi L. g 4 i Fla-e.

I cessit'ates'that the outside ladders, used by ,and useful Improvement in Freight-Cal" Ladders. of which improvement the follow ing is a specification.

.freight cars on which a ladder is in any man? car, and consequently t 0 car must be'opened,

nomum a.

race ,or CLEVELAND, 01110. I

remain-can. Lamina 4 a Specification t me" 1mm. 1 Amman fled-August as, 1011. s rapie, 045,339.

Patented Meier, 1913.

To all whom, it may concern: v

Be it known that I, DONALD R. IMAOBAIN, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuy'ahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new The recent rules of the Interstate merce Commission prohibit the operatipnof ner' defective, and compliance therewith ne'-- the brakemen in' g'oingtozand from the car roofs, shall be and quickly rem'ow. able when found toin defective condition.. This cannot be accomplished with ladders of the existing constructions in which the completeledder, or the'individual rungs, as .the case may be arebolted or riveted to the frami or" eathing-of the,

andin many cascqa portion of the be shifted, in order to remote and replace adefcctive ladder orrun j V The object of my invention is to. provide a freight car ladder'of simple. stron andfi inexpensive construction, which can ear-g5 peditiously attached to' and-detached qfromg the outside of a car, and be secureiyheld in; position when in service. The improvement claimed is herein fully set forth. In he accompanying drawings; Figure 1;

is a side view, in elevation, of a portion of a"; y freight our body, at and" ad o1ning one endi,

thereof, illustrating anapplication of my invention; Fig. 2, a partial end-vie of the same; Fig. 3, a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the top supporting bracket; F g. 4, a'similar view of the bottom supporting bracket; Fig. 4', afront view of thesame; and, Figs. 5 and 6, views similar to Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, illustrating a modificationof structural detail.

In, the practice of my invention-,1 providea metallic ladder composed of two stile bars, l, 1, connected at a suitable distance apart,- by a plurality of rungs, 1', the ends of which are riveted or bolted tothe stile bars. In thepractice of some railroads, the'lad ders are attached to the sides of the cars, ad oinin; one end; in that of others, to the ends,

adjoining one side; and, in many cases, to

both a side and end ofthe car, as is illustrated in the instance egremp lified. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the w dth dlmensions ladder), is secure 1%, of the stile b :eyes of the top so porting brac et, by bolts, .gis and nuts, 8%.

tial that the stiles should be secured to the of the stile bars, 1, are perpendicular to, the side and end of the car, except at and adoining their upper ends, where said bars are bent. at right angles so that their width dimensions stand parallel with the side and 1 it top supporting bracket, 2, (one for each as a permanent fixture, to the-side plate, 3, or end "late, 4, of the car frame,-as-the case may lie, by bolts, 5, and/nuts, 5'. The bracket, 2, is "a flat metal plate constituting a spacing member, the

"ends of which areibe'nt intotheform of eyes, 2', located at such distance apart as to en-- able the books, 1'', of the stile-bars of 'the ladder to befengage'd with 'or disengaged from them,flbyl vertical movements "of the end, and are bent downwardlyinto hooks, 1?.

ladder. A bottom supporting bracket con-' stituting a spacin S member, 6, (one for each ladder), in the. ormof'a flat metal plate, having its'ends'turned into loops or sockets, 6', adapted to receive the lower ends of the stile bars, is secured as a permanent fixture, to a side sill or end sill of the car frame, as the case may be, h bolts, 7, and nuts, 7". The ends of the st e bars, fit in theloops, t3, of the bottom bracket, and, in the instance shown, are secured detachablv to said bracket, when the hooks,

ars are enga ed with the t is not, however, essenbottom supporting bracket, and any construction of the latter by which they would bef engagcd therewith and prevented from displacementtherefrom, would be within the spirit and scope of my'invention.

The-ladders shown in Figs. ii and 6 accor in all substantial particulars, with that above described, .ditl'ering therefrom only in that the width dimensions of the stile bars stand parallel with the side or'end of the car, instead of perpendicular thereto, the loops of the bottom supporting bracket being, of

'1 of the ladder,

course, correspondingly changed in position to receive them. in order to prevent the swaying of the ladder toward and from the side or end of the car, the stile bars may, if desired, abut on, or beconnected intermediate their ends to, seats, 9, secured'to the ear framing or sheathing.

thelndders is simple and such as to combine lightness with strength; that it is securely held'in position when attached to the car;

It. .-will be seen that the constriict-ion of and that its removal and replacement, whenever required, may be effected with ease and quickness and without involving the necessity of access to the interior of the car as heretofore.

The brackets2 and 6 constitute permanent spacing members for the ends 'of the ladder stiles and are manufactured of standard size so that they may. be distributed throughout a railroad system at all repair points. The fact. that they are standard eliminates the necessity of the repairman measuringthe distance between the eyes in securing them" to a car in order that-they may be a '-proper distance apart to receive the stiles of a standard ladder, as this distance is determined-when the brackets are manufactured.

Thus all that the repairmanneed do' isto fasten the brackets to the car and this he is enabled to do quickly and'without measure merit, the spacing member of the bracket taking care of the distance between the eyes.

- 'I claim as my lnventiom-and desire to secure by Letters Patent: i

1. Tbe combination with a" railroadcar,

of an upper supporting'bracket-secured to the outside of the car body and forming eyes adjacent to its ends, a lower supporting bracket secured to the outs'ide of the car-* adjacent to its bottom, the endsoi"1 which are 'reben't in the samedirec tiorit 'form loops openingtoward the'cai bod and ala'dder comprising stilesha ving hoo s.

body adjacent its bottom, the ends of which so of rungs connected at th'eirendsto said o stiles i I -,v 2. The" combination with arailroad car, 40

of an upper "supporting bracket: secured to the outside of the car-body and "having eyes adjacent-to its ends, a lower supporting bracket secured to the outside of theear out-heir upper ends engagingthe eyes fo* the upper supporting brackets and fitting in the loops of a lower supportin I'bracket, and

a plurality of rungs coinn ec'te at their ends y 3-1 DONALDR-MKQBAIE;

Witnesses: 3 WILLIAM E'Bommmenn, 

